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Transportation

Goodyear's 'On TheGo' Self Inflating Tire 207

A reader writes with a bit of maintenance saving tech for drivers. From the article: "When was the last time you checked your tire pressure? If you're scratching your head, you might want to put a set of Goodyear's new self-inflating tires on your ride. The company's Air Maintenance Technology was rolled out of the lab this week for debut at a car show in Germany. Commercial truckers will be the first to put the rubber to test, but a consumer version is in the works. A regulator in the tire senses when tire-inflation pressure drops below a pre-set point and opens to allow air flow into the pumping tube. As the tire rolls, deformation flattens the tube, pushing air through the tire to the inlet valve and then into the tire cavity. All this technology, in Goodyear's words, eliminates the need for 'external inflation pressure intervention.'"
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Goodyear's 'On TheGo' Self Inflating Tire

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  • by pecosdave ( 536896 ) * on Monday September 24, 2012 @09:05PM (#41444981) Homepage Journal

    The bike on inflates itself simply by rolling [gizmag.com]. I would love to have these, but they're not exactly mass production yet and I've got a lot of goofy tire sizes on my bikes.

    • by iCEBaLM ( 34905 )

      It looks to be exactly the same principle, with the exception of the "pumping tube" on the bike one being on the outside circumference of the tire, and on the inside circumference on the car one.

    • by gagol ( 583737 )
      Do you know of it's the valve doing the work alone or do you need brand new tyres to get it to work?
      • The tubes/tires do the work. The "valve" on the bike version at least simply sets the pressure. I'm pretty sure an older version of the bike one I saw the pressure was determined by the tube itself, the "valves" built into the tube itself stopped flapping open after a certain pressure.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 24, 2012 @09:13PM (#41445051)

    So how long before this technology is implemented to other 'inflatable' ummm... technologies?

    I'm sure that this has many 'practical' implications for the 'companions' of the slashdot readership?

  • Price is key... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by flatbedexpress ( 1604573 ) on Monday September 24, 2012 @09:25PM (#41445141)
    Currently, I pay around $400-$600 per truck tire in my fleet and this is using my national fleet account from Bridgestone. I would hate to see what the price of this tire is going to be. The current prices are already hard to swallow when I have 80 Heavy-Haul trucks and over 200 trailers. That is a lot of tires!
    • Re:Price is key... (Score:5, Informative)

      by PortHaven ( 242123 ) on Monday September 24, 2012 @09:34PM (#41445199) Homepage

      Ask yourself, would you pay $50/tire more, if you got 2-4mpg more in your vehicle?

      $4,000 = 20,000 miles at 20mpg @$4/gallon (approx estimates)

      $3,636 = 20,000 miles at 22mpg @$4/gallon

      That's nearly $400 savings in 20,000 miles. So if they can do that for under $100/tire, you're about break even. Even 1mpg more would be about $200 (which would cover $50/tire). If your fleet averaged more than 20,000 miles per year. You might even end up saving $$$ in your annual budget.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        Just so you know, we don't see 20mpg in the trucking industry. We get on average 4-7mpg depending on how much of the EPA garbage you have in the engine.
        • According to the literature, at 20% under-inflated, you lose 15% mpg. That would be significant for you.

          OTH, your vehicles probably get checked far more often than a typical vehicle and don't run that far under pressure for very long. After all, most people aren't forced to stop their private cars to check weight limits and undergo random inspections from safety officers and undergo audits of their maintenance records.

          So for you, probably the savings would come from labor: not having to check the pressure o

        • by adolf ( 21054 )

          So it helps even more than the previous poster predicted. Bargain!

          And you get bonus points for reducing tire failure due to under-inflation. As you say, the rubber is expensive enough as it is...nevermind downtime, rig damage, mechanics, and replacement tires.

          And while it's certainly a good idea to check pressures regularly (whatever that means), at least there's a good chance that a driver won't have to drag an air hose around with him as he does so -- a pressure gauge should be sufficient, if all is goi

        • I thought most big rigs were already running a central tire inflation system [howstuffworks.com]; wouldn't a self-inflating tire be redundant for your fleet?

    • This will probably come down to whether this feature can squeeze another retread out of the tire casing - that is where the savings are going to be.

      The 1% extra saving in fuel will be lost in the noise (that is - too difficult to measure).

      I was reading a DOT report on "Commercial Medium Tire Debris Study" (DOT HS 811 060) and an inference that approximately 50% of tire failures are due to belt separation and that 50% of the probable cause is due to under inflation (both refer to "all tire failures").

      Quoting

      • Re:Price is key... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Alex Pennace ( 27488 ) <alex@pennace.org> on Monday September 24, 2012 @10:41PM (#41445631) Homepage

        I was reading a DOT report on "Commercial Medium Tire Debris Study" (DOT HS 811 060) and an inference that approximately 50% of tire failures are due to belt separation and that 50% of the probable cause is due to under inflation (both refer to "all tire failures").

        And not enough of the cost of tread separation is borne by users of retreads. Aside from the all too common problem of tire guts strewn along the shoulder of the highway, there is the very real danger of a retread causing damage to a vehicle or possibly an accident with injuries. Last year, I had the pleasure of driving along Rt 128 here in Bostonland at night. An 18 wheeler decided to cast off one of its tires; I managed to avoid all but one of the pieces. My reward is a large dent in my once pristine car, and no clue who is responsible beyond the fact that it is 17 wheeler now.

        I'm not saying retreads are always bad, nor am I suggesting we should soak truckers because they are evil. But the way retreads are currently used have significant externalities for other road users. The very same road users who would have bought an item that the truck was carrying if they didn't have to fix their car.

        • You are not alone in that view...

          Link to referenced study report:
          http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2008/811060.pdf [nhtsa.gov]

          Page 41:
          In 1999, the Commonwealth of Virginia tasked the Virginia Department of State Police to study the need for State standards for recapped vehicle tires. The occurrence of tire debris along Virginia’s highways gave rise to the perception that retread truck tires were to blame. The study would determine whether there was any substance to the perceptio

      • by stox ( 131684 )

        Apparently, so is checking the lug nuts. I've actually seen a wheel fall off a semi on I-55, southwest of Chicago. One of the scarier experiences of my driving career, as the wheel sailed across the lane in front of me, into a divider, and back across the highway again.

    • You can install an external pressurization system for a one-time capital cost and use the same tires you buy now. Do a Google search on TIREMAAX.
  • by PortHaven ( 242123 ) on Monday September 24, 2012 @09:28PM (#41445173) Homepage

    Apple has filed a lawsuit against Goodyear tire saying their new auto-inflating tire violates their patents. They have "an app for that", and therefore, Goodyear's later tire is cleary a copy of one of their several millions apps. Apple is not sure which one, but they know since there is an "app for everything", Goodyear must be in violation.

    They are asking $3.9 billion in damages and a halt on all sales of Goodyear tires. As they've pointed out tires are a clear infringement of their trade dress. Their buttons on their iPhones and iPads are round. And Goodyear tires are round. So that's $1 for every tire Goodyear has sold.

    • Apple is on very solid grounds on this law suite. In fact all tires are really rounded rectangles, just very very well rounded. So Goodyear is going to lose. Also checking the inflation of a bicycle type by pinching it with two finger, that is also out. Covered by the multi touch patent.
  • A regulator in the tire senses when tire-inflation pressure drops below a pre-set point

    Aside from the "self-inflating" part, all new cars sold in the US have a built-in tire pressure sensor.

    Sounds great, right? The car lets you know when you need to add air, so you always have safe, optimal-fuel-efficiency tires. Right?

    Except... If you live anywhere North of, say, Miami, these goddamned useless sensor will tell you to add air all fucking winter long.

    I see these tires, if they work at all (and gim
    • by OhPlz ( 168413 )

      Why does your TPMS go off all winter long? It will go off when the air temperature drops. Adjust the tire pressure and you should be good until spring. I've had this feature since '06 and that's always how it has worked out.

      The only thing that bugs me is that even on cars with touch screens, they cheap out and don't tell you which tires are at fault.

      • You may not notice, but if you drive on a dry road in winter, your tires will warm up. This means that in winter, you will often have cold tires that are under inflated when you step into your car after a cold night, but will warm up and be on pressure after 10-20 minutes of driving. I don't see how a TPMS is going to deal with that in any other way than indicate the tires are under inflated until they heat up, because they technically are. The TPMS has no way to see how long, fast or sporty you are going t
        • I don't see how a TPMS is going to deal with that in any other way than indicate the tires are under inflated until they heat up, because they technically are.

          The TPMS deals with that the same way that is always dealt with: Tire pressures are specified cold. Some performance vehicles may give you a hot tire pressure so that you're not taking air out of your tires when they're hot.

    • by mspohr ( 589790 )

      You may have a problem with your TPMS but mine works great.
      I live in the North and it gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Never had a false alarm from my TPMS.
      I did have one low pressure alert and guess what?? ... the tire had low pressure! Put a few pounds in it and good to go.

    • It should inflate your tires if they are low-pressure because they are cold. However, it should also decrease pressure once they heat up enough to go above the max. An overpressure valve would help. This can be in one and the same ride, because tires heat up when you drive.
      That leaves the "it's gimmicky so it'll fail catastrophically" however.
  • 'external inflation pressure intervention.'

    Do not ask your girlfriend for this, ever.

  • Once upon a time there was young, generally decent chap who'd previously had some unpleasant experiences with the police. He wasn't particularly inclined toward evil deeds, but he was young, played video games and listened to punk rock. One night en passant a police vehicle, he got a wild idea. This chap, who typically carried a general purpose tool, aka a pocket knife, imagined inserting it into one or more of the tires attached to the police vehicle. The notion was appealing enough that he decided to test
    • why can we not all have tires that yield not to trivial roadside rubbish?

      We can. We just choose not to pay for them

      The police, on the other hand, (a) don't have to pay for them--your tax dollars at work--and (b) have an arguably worthwhile need to not have to worry about flat tires.

      Just out of curiosity, what do people around here think of "run flat" tires? A new car I'm considering getting comes with them standard and I'm curious...

      • by sunderland56 ( 621843 ) on Monday September 24, 2012 @10:53PM (#41445723)

        Just out of curiosity, what do people around here think of "run flat" tires? A new car I'm considering getting comes with them standard and I'm curious...

        That depends. If you buy a car to get from point A to point B, they aren't that bad. Factor in that replacements are more expensive, wear out quicker, and mechanics often charge more to mount/balance them, versus the extremely occasional flat tire.

        However, if you are any sort of auto enthusiast, run-flat tires are the work of the devil. Very small selection, all with bad handling and poor traction. Many people are not buying BMWs any more simply because they all come with run-flats, and the extra added expense of buying four real tires for a brand new old car is just silly.

        • by mspohr ( 589790 )

          Had a friend who has a BMW with run flat tires. He got a flat and decided to just run flat. Worked for a few miles then everything came apart. Required a tow truck and much time and expense to put everything back together again. I don't think these tires are very good.
          (I'm sure there is a joke in here about iPhone users and BMW drivers but I can't think of it now... perhaps someone more brilliant will come up with it.)

          • Run-flat tires are designed to be operated over short distances at speeds not exceeding 55 mph. They provide limp-home capability, not run forever without air capability. I imagine you have cottoned to this already.

      • Run flat tires will pop and hiss if you stick a sharp object through the side plies or if you really feel like you have to prove something, the thread, but will not flatten so much that they can't be driven to the next service point. Tires that are "bullet proof" essentially aren't, but have an inner ring of special reinforced plastic constructed when the tire is half on the rim. Those still pop from the bullets, but hardly drop to the ground at all, giving you even more time/speed to get away from danger a

  • All cars in the USA already come with an electronic system [wikipedia.org] telling the driver if a tire is underinflated.

    Yes, this relies on the driver actually doing something about it - but just how idiot proof do we really need to make cars?

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday September 24, 2012 @11:04PM (#41445789)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • I constantly see blown tire tread all curled on the highways.

        Now, I have seen a tire on a semi blow out, but how much of what you're seeing is blowout (has sidewall attached) and how much of it is just failed retread? Retreads should be illegal, except maybe on long hauls where they're statistically less likely to kill someone. They're horribly fucking hazardous.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 24, 2012 @10:45PM (#41445661)

    Not trolling here, but how does it pump only air and not water? I've driven in some wet parts of the country, and many more that were snowy and slushy. There's a lot of dust and moisture down there on the road at times.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Tire pressure should be set by the specific application. In a passenger car that generally has a weight that varies only a small amount over its service life, this tire could save a little time, but since it will almost certainly cost more, I don't much see the point. Car tires don't generally leak that much, and thanks to TPMS, (such as the one in my Chevy Impala with which I can see the pressure in each tire displayed on my dashboard) I can check without having to take the valve stem caps off. When it

    • The pressure in the tire depends on load because the more weight on the tire, the more it deforms. If the tire is regulating the pressure based on the deformation of the tire it could set the pressure correctly regardless of car weight, number of passengers ,what seats they're sitting in. temperature, amount of luggage in the boot, amount of fuel in the tank...
      • The pressure in the tire depends on load because the more weight on the tire, the more it deforms

        It doesn't change much at all. The tire changes its shape but the volume doesn't change much [metafilter.com]. When you add a load, the tire settles, the contact patch grows, the sidewall bulges proportionally to maintain the volume, and as the contact patch has grown there's more square inches for the pressure per square inch to act upon. If you add a thousand pounds to a truck you don't see the tire pressure increase by the amount you'd expect if you did the math, because a tire is structural, it's not just a bag.

  • What if... (Score:5, Funny)

    by viperidaenz ( 2515578 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2012 @12:54AM (#41446417)
    What if I drive backwards? Does it deflate the tire?
    • Most tires are necessarily reversed when rotated. So no. I'm sure it works independently of direction.

    • Not only you would deflate the tire, if you listen to country music, the girlfriend will come back, the ranch will unburn from ashes, and the gas tank of the truck will fill itself and your wallet will get back the cash too. This thing is amazing when run backwards.
  • Hundreds of millions of tires go from fresh, deep tread with the tiny mold fingers to terrifyingly bald and that volume difference goes... where? Click n' Clack never could come up with an answer; maybe someone here knows.
    • Hundreds of millions of tires go from fresh, deep tread with the tiny mold fingers to terrifyingly bald and that volume difference goes... where? ...

      I have no cite--but have read that much of it ends up as tire dust, which (now in most US cities) is the main ingredient of smog.

      The article claimed that this was the problem with trying to increase air quality by enforcing lower standards of tailpipe emissions--the two main factors left are tire dust, and diesel-engined vehicles. Tire dust isn't being addr

    • Click n' Clack never could come up with an answer; maybe someone here knows.

      Your feet don't turn black when you walk on the streets barefoot just because of the oil. Tires wear away into dust, and parts of them also gets left in the pavement, dries out, and turns to dust.

      We breathe that shit. This is just another reason plants are so goddamned important. They trap dust. Cities without a lot of plant mass (water helps too) are far beyond unhealthy and disgusting.

  • Typically the only time people really look at their tires is to see if they need air. This is when many people take a look and decide, hey time to rotate, or gee, my alignment is way off, or holy cow, my tires are dangerously over worn in general and it's time for some new. In the long run I see this as potentially detrimental for some people.

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